Bottle opener



5. J. CLARK BOTTLE OPENER May 29, 1951- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed be 5, 1946 III Inventor S Immie J. Clark May 29, 1951v Filed Dec. 5, 1946 s. J. CLARK BOTTLE OPENER 2 Sheets-$heet 2 Fig.

Inventor Simmie .1; 01m

Patented May 29, 1951 "UNITED S TATES T O F FFICE 'BGTTLE OPENER Application December 5, 194:6,Serial-No; #14 298 13 Claims.

The-presentinvention relates to new-and useful improvements in bottle openers adapted to remove crimped caps from bottles, jars or the like and-more particularly to a power operated :device of this character.

. An important object of the present invention isto provide-a bottle opener including astationarr-holder for the neck of a bottleand in which theneck of thebottle is inserted for holding the bottle firmly and in a protected position toprevent-injuryto-a person should the neck bebroken during the opening operation and alsovembo'dy- =ing aplunger 'for'depressingthe cap at itscenter and spreading-it along its edges thereby freeing the cap from a the 7 bottle while the bottle .is held inthe holder.

=A further object of theinvention is .to provide an electricrmotor :for operating the plunger in a .mannerto raise and release the plunger togetheruwithspring means for moving the plunger downwardly to strike a sharp blow on the top of the .cap and also to .providegripping jaws .for the loweredges of-the cap ,tolsupport the same iwhilerthe plungerstrikesa'blowon the top of the .icap randein which the :jaws .aremoved into ta F'gripping position bythe: downward movement of the plunger. v

Another object of the invention is to provide .iaibcttle. opening mechanism of this 7 character in rwhich the jaws are raised;for;quickeactingimove- :ment to Jefiectra quick and saferemoval of the cap from the :bottle.

A -still further object is to provide a device Le -of :this :character of Simple and practical construction, which is eficient and-reliable in operaticn, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposesior which i-the same is intended.

-Other objects and advantages reside --in the details of construction and operation as more fullyzhereinafterdescribedand claimed, reference being hadtothe accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like 1 numerals refer to like 1 parts throughout, andin which:

- view 1 taken on a linen-4 of V Figure -1.

= Figure'5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional v-iview takenxon a line 5-5 of Figure -1,-and

, Figure 6 is i an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken onaline 6-5 of Figurel andshowing the guide for one of the sliding gripping jaws.

.Referring now to the drawings indetail" where- (Gl. {SI- 3.2

in forthe 'purposeof illustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention the nu- -meral t designates .a housing which ;is open at its bottom and adapted for attaching tooaista- 5 ttionarysupportingstructure in anysuitahle manit her. .The open slower -endpof the housing is ;pro-

..vided with a block or plug v6 having a tapering centraliop-ening .7 adapted forreceivingjhe gneck of a bottle when inserted upwardly through the 10 schemin thesize of the openin bein :1 adapted to tightlynengagethe' neckpf the bottle'belowzthe cap :to tightly :hold gtheahottle 1 in J pQ ition there- 7.1111.

vA horizontal :partition ;8 is ;suitably secured iini-theflh-Qus n iandiis fo me Wi ha central eopenin 5.9. Risiner'fromthe part t o 8 a ja e 'MQDDQSHQBQSi Q 1th. .eof s pai o wert c guid ands it cnlwhich horizonta :ba I l i slid bly mounted for vertical 1110V8lfl181'l1) by means of warn n sild normed edia nt e n o t f-Io thewundersideofthe bar I is suitablysecured era-c lind ica plun e 12 wh h ext n d w lw rl y ;.i e y hr u h th o enin t owe end of the plunger being tapered as shown-at I3.

,A vertical rack bar I4 is secured at its lower endto the bar II by flanges l5 at the lower end of the ;rack bar, the upper portionof the rack bar being pperatively engaged by a pinion l6 having interrupted teeth as shown at IT. The

pinion is driven by an electric motor-l8 suitably ,securedto theupper portionof the housing "5.

uThebottom of the .-motor.l8 is providedtwith aconventional switch ISCarranged for operation by the upper end of ayertical rod 20which extendsvertically through the center of theplunger I2 for vertical sliding movement therein, the lower end of the -rod 2ll extending below the plunger as shown at 2!. The rod :20, as best illustrated in-'Figure 4, isprovided with an off- 40 setportion 20 which is arranged to rest on and'be supported by azbracket member 2l,-.the latter being suitably attached to the bottom .of the motor 18.

The tapered lower .end 13 of the plunger -:l2 is engaged in the-similancircular inner ends 22 of apair of horizontallyidisposed arms 23,.the semi- .eircular ends of thearms being beveled as shown at 24 to conform to the taper 13 of the plungereas shown in Figure 1 of the drawings.

The otheriends of eachof the arms 23 are pivoted to the.upper ends of vertical links:.25, the tlinks being pivoted intermediate their ends on pins 26 vsupported in U-shaped vbrackets 12'! secured to the opposite. sides of the housing.5.

A pair of horizontally sliding jaws 28 are pivoted at one end to the lower ends of the links 25, the

jaws being mounted for sliding movement between spaced parallel guides 29 suitably secured on the inner surface of the block 6.

Thefree ends 30 of the jaws 28 are positioned adjacent the inner end of the opening I and diametrically opposite sides thereof and are of semi-circular construction as shown in Figure 3 of the drawings to conform to the curvature of a neck of a bottle. The inner curved edges of the ends 30 of the jaws are formed with tapering upwardly curved lips 3| to provide a channel 32 at the upper surface of the jaws at the curved ends 30 thereof as shown to advantage in Figure 1 of the drawings.

Coil springs 33 have one end attached to the partition 8 and their other ends attached to the underside of the bar I l adjacent the ends of said bar. Coil spring members 34 are positioned under the bar ll adjacent the ends thereof with the lower ends of the members seated in sockets 35 suitably secured to the upper surface of the partition 8.

In the operation of the device the neck of a bottle is inserted upwardl in the opening I at the lower end of the housing 5 and is tightly held in said opening. The opening I is sufficiently large to permit the movement of the cap of the bottle entirely through the opening to engage the lower end 2| of the rod to thus move the rod 20 upwardly and close the switch IQ for the motor IS. The pinion I6 is then driven by the motor to raise the rack bar I4 and thus raise the bar I I and plunger I2 until the interrupted teeth I! of the pinion are moved into position with the teeth of the rack bar whereupon the rack bar I4 is released from the pinion. During the raising movement of the rack bar l4 and bar II the springs 33 are placed under tension and upon releasing of the rack bar the springs 33 will pull the bar H and plunger l2 downwardly with sudden force to strike the top of the cap of the bottle.

Immediately prior to the striking of the lower end 13 of the plunger with the cap the tapered end l3 of the plunger will engage the arms 23 to slide the arms outwardly and thus move the jaws 28 inwardly through their connection with the arms 23 by the link 25. The inner ends 30 of the jaws 28 will accordingly be moved under the orimped cap of the bottle and with the edges of the cap seated in the channel 32 of the jaws, the cap thus being supported against downward movement at the time the plunger [2 strikes the top of the cap.

By depressing the center of the cap by the lower end of the plunger 12 the side edges of the cap will thus be spread apart to free the cap from the. bottle and the cap will then drop through the opening i when the neck of the bottle is removed therefrom.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A bottle cap remover comprising a housing having an opening for receiving the neck of a capped bottle, a plunger in the housing reciprocable toward the top of a cap to exert an impact force thereagainst, means for moving said plunger in position to .deliver said impact force and for releasing the plunger, a pair of arms slidably positioned in a horizontal plane adjacent the bottle receiving opening, means disposed in the path of downward movement of the plunger and directly actuated thereby for moving said arms relative to each other to engage under the skirt of the cap and support the cap in alignment with the plunger.

2. A bottle cap remover comprising a housing having an opening for receiving the neck of a capped bottle, a plunger operable in the housing, means for reciprocating said plunger in the housing toward the top of the cap to exert an impact force thereagainst, means for moving said plunger in position to deliver said impact force and for releasing the plunger, a pair of arms slidably positioned in a horizontal plane adjacent the bottle receiving opening and adapted to engage under the skirt of the top, cam operating means disposed in the path of downward movement of the plunger and communicated with said arms for imparting cap engaging movement to the arms responsive to contact thereof by the plunger.

3. An opening device for capped containers comprising a housing having an aperture for receiving one end of an object, a plunger operable in the housing, power operated means for moving said plunger in position to deliver an impact force and for releasing said plunger, a pair of arms slidably positioned in a horizontal plane adjacent the aperture to engage the object, means disposed in the path of downward movement of the plunger and actuated thereby for moving said arms in an object engaging position to support the object in vertical alignment with the plunger.

4. A bottle cap remover comprising a housing having an opening for receiving the neck of a capped bottle, a plunger operable in the housing to deliver an impact force on the top of the cap, means-for forcing said plunger into striking contact with the top of the cap, power operated means for actuating said foregoing means, means in the housing and slidably .disposed on a plane transverse to the axis of the plunger for engaging the lower edge of the skirt of the cap and supporting the cap in alignment with the plunger and means directly actuated by the plunger for operating said foregoing means.

5. A bottle cap remover comprising a housing having an opening for receiving the neck of a capped bottle, a plunger operable in the housing to deliver an impact force on the top of the cap, resilient means for urging said plunger into striking contact with the top of the cap, means movably positioned in the housing adjacent to the opening and lying in a plane transverse to the axis of the plunger for engaging the lower edge of the skirt of the cap and supporting the cap in alignment with the plunger and means directly actuated by the plunger for operating said foregoing means.

6. A bottle cap remover comprising a housing having an opening for receiving the neck of a capped bottle, a plunger operable in the housing to deliver an impact force on the top of the cap, means for forcing said plunger into striking contact with the top of the cap, power operated means for actuating said foregoing means, means in the housing and slidably disposed on a plane transverse t the axis of the plunger for encases,

gaging thalower-edgeof 'the'skirtof the-capand supportingthecap-inalignment with the plunger and means directly actuated by the plunger for operating said foregoing means, and means actuated bythe'bottle upon movement thereof aintmthe-thousing for controlling said power operated means.

7. A bottle (cap: eremover, comprising-a housing having an opening for receiving the neck of a cappedbottle, a plunger operable in thehousing ,to deliveran impactforce on'the top of the-cap,

,resilient means for'urging-said plunger into strik- Jing contact with the cap, power operated means "for tensioning and releasing-said foregoing means, means movably disposed in the housing transcapped bottle, a plunger operable in the housing to deliver an impact force on the top of the cap, resilient means for urging said plunger into strikingcontact with the cap, power operated means for tensioning and releasing said foregoing means, means mo'vably disposed in the housing transverse to the path of movement of the plunger for engaging the lower edge of the skirt of the cap and supporting the cap in alignment with the plunger, and means positioned in the path of movement of the plunger and directly actuated by the plunger for actuating said foregoing means, said last means including a pair of opposing complementary members disposed parallel with and above the means for engaging the cap, said members having their ends intersecting the path of movement of the complementary plunger. and pivoted links connecting said members and said means for engaging the cap Whereby lateral outward movement of the members responsive to movement of the plunger will effect an inward lateral movement of the means for engaging the cap.

9. A bottle cap remover comprising a housing having an opening for receiving the neck Of a capped bottle, a plunger operable in the housing to deliver an impact force on the top of the cap, resilient means for urging said plunger into striking contact with the cap, power operated means for tensioning and releasing said foregoing means, means movably disposed in the housing transverse to the path of movement of the plunger for engaging the lower edge of the skirt of the cap and supporting the cap in alignment with the plunger, and means positioned in the path of movement of the plunger and directly actuated by the plunger for actuating said foregoing means, said last means including a pair of opposing complementary members disposed parallel with and above the means for engaging the cap, said members having their ends intersecting the path of movement of the complementary plunger and pivoted links connecting said members and said means for engaging the cap whereby lateral outward movement of the members responsive to movement of the plunger will efiect an inward lateral movement of the means for engaging the cap, and means for normally retaining the complementary ends of the members in close engagement.

10. A bottle cap remover comprising a housing having an opening .:for receiving "the c-ne'ckrof .a capped bottle, a' plunger .operablein the housing to deliveran impact force on thetopsof thecap,

a transverse'movable support on one vend'of the plunger, a fixed partition transversely positioned in the housing and .disposed parallel to the plunger support, resilient means connected between the partition and plunger support' for urging the support rela'tiveto the partitionand'the plunger relative to the opening, power operated means for moving said support .away from the partition and tensioning the resilient means, releasemeansassociated with the power. operated means, apair of arms slidably positionedinpthe housing transverselytothe.path of movement of the plunger and adapted to engage the skirt of the cap and support the cap in alignment with the plunger and means positioned in the path of movement of the plunger for actuating said arms.

11. A bottle cap remover comprising a housing having an opening for receiving the neck of a capped bottle, a plunger operable in the housing to deliver an impact force on the top of the cap, a transverse movable support on one end of the plunger, a fixed partition transversely positioned in the housing and disposed parallel to the plunger support, resilient means connected between the partition and plunger support for urging the support relative to the partition and the plunger relative to the opening, power 0perated means for moving said support away from the partition and tensioning the resilient means, release means associated with the power operated means, a' pair of arms slidably positioned in the housing transversely to the path of movement of the plunger and adapted to engage the skirt of the cap and support the cap in alignment with the plunger and means positioned in the path of l movement of the plunger for actuating said arms,

said last means including a pair of complementary cam members positioned parallel to the arms and pivoted connecting links between the cam members and arms.

12. A bottle cap remover comprising a housing having an opening for receiving the neck of a capped bottle, a plunger operable in the housing to deliver an impact force on the top of the cap, a transverse movable support on one end of the plunger, a fixed partition transversely positioned in the housing and disposed parallel to the plunger support, resilient means connected between the partition and plunger support for urging the support relative to the partition and the plunger relative to the opening, power operated means for moving said support away from the partition and tensioning the resilient means, release means associated with the power operated means, a pair of arms slidably positioned in the housing transversely to the path of movement of the plunger and adapted to engage the skirt of the cap and support the cap in alignment with the plunger and means positioned in the path of movement of the plunger for actuating said arms, and means actuated by the bottle upon the positioning thereof in the opening for controlling the power operated means.

13. A bottle cap remover comprising a housing having an opening for receiving the neck of a capped bottle, a plunger operable in the housing to deliver an impact force on the top of the cap, a transverse movable support on one end of the plunger, a fixed partition transversely positioned in the housing and disposed parallel to the plunger support, resilient means connected between the partition and plunger support for urgarmature shaft thereof mounted in the housing, ing the support relative to the partition and the the gear being enmeshed with the bar.

plunger relative to the opening, power operated I SIMMIE J. CLARK. means for moving said support away from the partition and tensioning the resilient means, re- 5 REFERENCES C E lease means associated w th the D Operated The following references are of record in the means','a pair of arms slidably positioned in the file of t t housing transversely to the path of movement of the plunger and adapted to engage the skirt of UNITED STATES PATENTS the cap and support the cap in alignment with .0 er Name Date the plunger and means positioned in the path 326,630 C0dd Sept. 22, 1885 of movement of the plunger for actuating said 1,247,507 cochmne 1 arms, said power operated means including a 1,376,994 Amold May 3, 1921 rack bar extending from the support opposite to 7,22 Fischer Apr. 14, 1936 the plunger and a motor having a gear on the 15 

